Pumpkin spice season can wait.
10 'Summerween' Horror Movies For 'Backrooms' Fans
Theresa Gonzalez is a content creator based in San Francisco and the author of Sunday Sews. She's a lover of all things design and spends most of her days raising her daughter Matilda.
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If you're the kind of person who thinks horror movies belong year-round, 'Summerween' is the perfect excuse to swap beach reads for nightmares. And while classic slashers always have their place, this year's most unsettling watchlist leans into a different kind of fear: endless hallways, eerie suburbs, internet rabbit holes, and psychological spirals that make you question reality itself. It’s an anxiety-inducing aesthetic perfectly captured by A24's upcoming film Backrooms, starring Oscar-nominated actors Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsve, where a strange doorway appears in the basement of a furniture showroom. From liminal space nightmares to obsession-fueled thrillers, these 10 movies deliver the perfect mix of dread for your next Summerween marathon.
Scroll for 10 horror movies to watch if you love 'Backrooms.'
Watch The Backrooms Trailer
Based on the viral YouTube phenomenon by Kane Parsons, who makes his feature directorial debut, BACKROOMS is a psychological nightmare co-produced by A24, Chernin Entertainment, and Blumhouse-Atomic Monster. Written by Will Soodik (Westworld), the film expands a massive internet mythos into a live-action cinematic experience that explores modern isolation, human obsession, and the terrifying scale of an industrialized monoculture.
1. Skinamarink (2022)
If you've ever stared into a dark hallway and convinced yourself something was staring back, Skinamarink is for you. The experimental horror film follows two children who wake up to discover their home's doors and windows have disappeared. More nightmare than narrative, it's the closest thing to experiencing a bad dream while fully awake.
Summerween vibe: Watching cartoons at a sleepover while everyone else falls asleep first.
Stream on Tubi or Prime.
2. Vivarium (2019)
Imagine touring your dream starter home only to discover you can never leave. That's the premise of Vivarium, a deeply unsettling sci-fi horror movie starring Jessie Eisenberg and Imogen Poots. The film transforms a sunny suburban neighborhood into a pastel-colored prison, proving that sometimes the scariest places are the most ordinary.
Summerween vibe: Open-house season gone horribly wrong.
Stream on Tubi or Prime.
3. Creep (2014)
Found-footage horror rarely feels this personal. When a videographer answers a strange Craigslist ad, he quickly realizes his eccentric client may be hiding something sinister. Awkward, funny, and terrifying, Creep delivers one of horror's most unforgettable performances.
Summerween vibe: Accepting a gig from someone with way too many red flags.
Stream on Netflix or Prime.
4. Watcher (2022)
A move to a new city becomes increasingly unnerving when a young woman starts noticing a mysterious man watching her from across the street. Watcher excels at building slow-burn tension, making you question whether the threat is real—or if paranoia is taking over.
Summerween vibe: Realizing someone keeps showing up in the background of your vacation photos.
Stream on Prime or rent on Apple TV+.
5. Cube (1997)
Before escape rooms became trendy, there was Cube. The cult classic follows strangers trapped inside an endless maze of deadly rooms, each one more dangerous than the last. The minimalist setting somehow makes the terror even more effective.
Summerween vibe: The world's most stressful group project.
Stream on Tubi or Prime.
6. The Empty Man (2020)
Don't let the title fool you — this overlooked horror gem is far more ambitious than its marketing suggested. What begins as an urban-legend mystery gradually transforms into a sprawling cosmic nightmare. The less you know going in, the better.
Summerween vibe: Falling down an internet rabbit hole at midnight and emerging at sunrise questioning reality.
Rent on YouTube or Apple TV+.
7. Pulse (2001)
Long before social media anxiety became a thing, this Japanese horror masterpiece imagined technology as a gateway for loneliness, isolation, and supernatural terror. Its haunting imagery and eerie atmosphere have influenced countless horror films that followed.
Summerween vibe: Staying online just a little too long after dark.
Stream on Pluto TV or Prime.
8. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Nearly three decades later, The Blair Witch Project remains one of the most effective found-footage horror films ever made. Three filmmakers head into the woods to investigate a local legend and quickly find themselves lost in ways that feel terrifyingly real.
Summerween vibe: That camping trip your friend insisted would be "fun."
Stream on HBO Max and Hulu.
9. We're All Going to the World's Fair (2021)
Part coming-of-age story, part internet horror fever dream, this haunting indie film explores identity, loneliness, and the strange performances we create online. It's less interested in jump scares than emotional unease, which somehow makes it even creepier.
Summerween vibe: Discovering a bizarre TikTok trend you immediately wish you hadn't.
Rent on Apple TV+ and Prime.
10. It Follows (2014)
A modern horror classic, It Follows turns a simple premise into relentless dread: once you're marked, something will always be walking toward you. The film's dreamy suburban setting and synth-heavy soundtrack make it feel oddly perfect for summer nights.
Summerween vibe: Looking over your shoulder every time you leave the house.
Stream on Apple TV and Prime.
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